Insuring a car you are not driving

If a car will sit unused for a month or more, you can often cut its insurance to comprehensive only, which protects it from theft, fire, storms and vandalism while dropping the driving coverages. You generally cannot drop all insurance while the car is still registered, because most states require liability coverage on registered vehicles, and your lender will require full coverage until the loan is paid. Before you cancel anything, check your state's registration rules and the cost of a gap in your insurance history.

Your options at a glance

Comprehensive-only coverage

Some insurers let you keep comprehensive and suspend liability and collision while a car is stored. Allstate says a car must be in storage for 30 days or more to qualify for its version, and warns not to take the car out even for a short ride while liability is suspended, because driving without liability coverage is illegal in most states (Allstate). Progressive also allows customers to keep comprehensive while dropping collision (Progressive).

Comprehensive matters even for a parked car. A tree can fall on a garage, a carport can flood, and catalytic converters are stolen from cars that never move. See comprehensive coverage explained for what it pays.

Two limits to know:

• Registration. In states that require liability insurance on every registered vehicle, a comprehensive-only policy can trigger a notice from the state unless you also take the car off the registration rolls.
• Loans and leases. Both Allstate and Progressive note that a lienholder will usually require collision and comprehensive for as long as you owe money, stored or not.

State rules: registration comes first

States handle unused cars in different ways, and the order of steps matters:

• New York tells owners to surrender the vehicle's registration and license plates to the DMV before their New York coverage ends for any reason, and expects insurance for as long as the car is registered there (NY DMV). Canceling insurance first can lead to penalties and a suspended registration.
• California offers a Planned Non-Operation (PNO) filing. Under Vehicle Code 4604, the owner certifies that the car "will not be operated, moved, or left standing upon a highway," for a $15 filing fee, and must file before the registration expires.
• Many other states have their own affidavit of non-use or plate-surrender process, and many run electronic systems that match insurance records to registrations. See state insurance verification systems and the state car insurance requirements lookup.

Progressive's advice matches this order: cancel or suspend the registration first, then reduce or cancel insurance, then reinstate insurance before you re-register and drive again.

The hidden cost of canceling

Insurers price drivers partly on continuous coverage. A lapse can mean higher quotes later, and some insurers treat any gap as a risk factor. Allstate and Progressive both point this out. If you will drive again within a few months, comprehensive-only or a low-mileage option may cost less over time than canceling. Ask the insurer how it treats a gap when you return, and see what happens if your car insurance lapses.

If you no longer own any car but still borrow or rent one, a non-owner policy keeps your insurance history going and provides liability coverage when you drive. See non-owner car insurance: who needs it and how it works.

A worked example

These numbers are hypothetical. Say a full policy on your car costs $150 a month and comprehensive-only costs $25 a month. You deploy overseas for 10 months and store the car in a locked garage.

• Keep full coverage: $1,500 for the 10 months.
• Comprehensive only: $250, saving $1,250, with theft and fire still covered.
• Cancel everything: $0 for 10 months, but you must handle registration first, the car is unprotected, and your next quote may be higher because of the gap.

For most people in this situation, comprehensive-only is the middle path. Military members should also ask about deployment or storage programs; see car insurance for military members and veterans.

Steps before you park the car

1. Check whether the car has a loan or lease; if so, ask the lender what coverage it requires during storage.
2. Look up your state's process for unused vehicles: plate surrender, non-operation filing or nothing at all.
3. Call your insurer and ask for comprehensive-only, a storage option or a lower mileage rating. Get the change confirmed in writing with its effective date.
4. If you cancel, follow the registration steps first and keep the confirmation. See how to cancel car insurance the right way.
5. Set a reminder to restore full coverage before the car's first drive, including the trip to the inspection station.
6. For collector cars kept off the road most of the year, compare a classic car policy, which is built for limited use.

Key takeaways

• Comprehensive-only coverage protects a stored car from theft and damage at a fraction of the cost, but you cannot drive it.
• Most states expect liability coverage on any registered car, so handle registration before dropping insurance.
• New York requires surrendering plates before coverage ends; California offers a $15 Planned Non-Operation filing.
• A loan or lease usually means keeping full coverage even in storage.
• Canceling saves the most but can create a lapse that raises future quotes.